1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for dissipating heat, and more particularly to a heat dissipating apparatus having a heat sink and a fan for providing forced airflows directed to the heat sink to dissipate heat generated by an electronic component.
2. Description of Related Arts
As ICs (Integrated Circuits) such as computer CPUs (Central Processing Units) are being designed to run faster and faster, more and more heat are being generated by these ICs. Heat dissipating apparatus are typically used to dissipate the heat generated by these ICs.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional heat dissipating apparatus for cooling an electronic component 2. The heat dissipating apparatus generally includes a heat sink 4 rested on the electronic component 2, a retaining bracket 5 and a cooling fan 6 positioned to the heat sink 4 by the retaining bracket 5. The heat sink 4 includes a base plate 42 and cooling fins 44 extending from the base plate 42. A heat pipe 46 extends in the heat sink 4.
In operation, the heat generated by the electronic component 2 is firstly transferred to the base plate 42 and then to the cooling fins 44 both by heat conduct of metal and by phase change of the heat pipe 46. The heat is radiated to ambient, with the help of the cooling fan generating airflows toward the cooling fins 44. For an electronic component, its center portion typically generates much more heat than other portions does. Therefore, a center portion of the heat dissipating apparatus accumulates more heat than other portion does. For a cooling fan, unfortunately, its center portion generates little and weak airflow during operation. Therefore, in the above-described configuration of the heat dissipating apparatus, the cooling fan 6 is generally unable to draw adequate air through the center portion of the heat dissipating apparatus to dissipate the significant amount of heat accumulated thereon. This may cause a failure of heat dissipating of the electronic component 2. Therefore, a heretofore-unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.